Komicbrew was spam that I tolerated because it was about comics. Prelate1 just logs in and doesn't participate. I may know him/her, but I'm over having dead accounts here. Valeyard has at least posted. So he's safe.

The free hosts are yet again being unreliable. It should be pretty much assumed that all my checklists will be unavailable online in the future. Companies start up free hosting thinking that it is a business model to lure new customers. They give away their product for free then ask for money later. Eventually, they discover that no one needs or wants their additional services so they restrict access, limit features, and mysteriously delete accounts that aren't earning revenue. They could work on gaining ad revenue from the site, but obviously that never pans out. Currently, the Continuity Checklist is at risk again and the Ultraverse Checklist is offline.

An email has been sent cussing out the host for the Continuity website. If it disappears soon, that will be why. I have no tolerance for complete idiots.

I was going through the line at the grocery store Publix last week. I was telling the young girl cashier that I had worked at a grocery store once. I told her all the places I'd worked. She says "What was it like at Kroger?" I said "The job was fine, but I got fed up with stupid managers." She said "Were they bad?" I said "Oh yeah! I cussed one of them out!" She smiled and said "Really?" I said "Oh yeah!" I said "I told off a District Manager at Ingles too!". As I was leaving the store, she had a REALLY big smile on her face.

My beloved sent me some B&W photocopies of her recent artwork. I like it. We are both very private, so I won't post scans unless she gives me permission. I've always felt she was talented, but I think she's just getting better. She has some paintings online, but I'm not going to post the images of those for the sake of our privacy.

The hosting service that hosts some of my bigger checklists has been hacked. Emails and passwords were stolen, so they've locked down access and presumably I'll have to update my passwords. PHP software has known exploits. It's simply idiotic for a web host to run outdated software and not expect to get hacked. I am so tired of the online experience and the garbage the web has become.

I saw an ad for a toy that "learns what your kid likes" and customizes it for them. WTF! We're now targeting kids to steal information and control what they think about?! How pathetic.

That customizable shit is annoying. I thought it was only netflix but now it's on every obnoxious ad on every page clicked on. "If you like this you may like this!" Most of the software suggestions are so insulting. I miss the old days of internet. Now there are online ads that dropdown on you with video and sound on every single page. No way to pause it like a youtube box and it takes extra time to find for the close tab. Takes about 30 seconds to actually bypass the ads on any web page and be left alone. *barfing eye rolls*

I looked up a distributor for a part at work trying to find UL info on a part we bought. I got home and logged into facebook and it asked me if I wanted to "like" that distributor. This shows the degree of online stalking that goes on. I classify it as harassment. It is insulting to assume I'm too stupid to look up things that interest me. It's the dumbing down of the internet. It is censorship also. Services and sites that I want to visit are not displayed on search engine results because they are too busy trying to show me something I looked at yesterday.

A security blog I read posted this:

Quote:

Compromised personal data, criminal services, drug and weapons markets, and illegal pornography are all part of the network of hidden sites now commonly referred to as the “Dark Web,” also known as the “Dark Net” (or “Darknet”). The term conveys not only the secrecy of how this underground channel operates, but also the illicit content often exchanged and sold within it.

The terms Deep Web and Dark Web are often used interchangeably, but they are different. While both are parts of the Internet that are not indexed by traditional search engines, and therefore not easy for the average user to find, the Deep Web is reachable via a standard browser and does not require special tools or niche software to access.

On the other hand, the Dark Web is a subset of the Deep Web that cannot be accessed via standard browser and runs off a different protocol (i.e., not standard HTTP/HTTPS) and/or requires a special software or browser to access. Additionally, since Dark Web sites and channels are hidden, you often need to know their specific URLs or other information to find them. This is why the Dark Web is the hardest area for white hat security experts to monitor.

The Dark Web is a prime environment for all types of illicit activities and various unregulated marketplaces selling goods and services ranging from counterfeit documents to illegal drugs and guns. The amount of content available on the Deep and Dark Web is massive, and according to some estimates, may be as much as 500 times greater than what is visible to conventional search engines.How Do You Access the Dark Web?

The vast majority of Dark Web sites and marketplaces can be accessed via The Onion Router Project (Tor), or Tor Hidden Service Protocol, a special browser that allows connected users to maintain anonymity by spoofing their location and hiding their identity. A smaller number of Dark Web visitors also use a similar tool called I2P, or Invisible Internet Project. In comparison to Tor, I2P is a newer anonymizer tool that also provides access to the hidden web; however, it is not as frequently utilized by the average Dark Web visitor. Similar to Tor, I2P hosts sites that are not accessible through general search engines, and anonymizes traffic by ping-ponging location information from proxy to proxy. Both of these systems encrypt web traffic in onion-like layers by bouncing location data through random computers around the world, masking the identity of a user. Similarly, a website that itself runs Tor — known as a Tor hidden service — can only be visited by Tor users.Tor Use On the Dark Web

Tor can be used for a wide variety of purposes, not just to access the Dark Web. The browser was originally created by the U.S. Government to allow protected online communications. Today, Tor can be used for law-abiding privacy purposes, such as anonymous browsing of the visible net (non-Dark Web sites), circumventing censorship, and skirting surveillance. Additionally, activists, criminals, journalists, law enforcement officers, the military, privacy advocates, whistleblowers, and others use the Tor browser every day. News outlets such as The Guardian and The New Yorker host Dark Web drop sites for anonymously leaked tips and documents. In 2011, for example, Dark Web drop sites were used by some bloggers, journalists, and online activists to protect their identity while discussing the Arab Spring uprisings. The use of Tor to access the Dark Web accounts for only three percent of Tor usage.What’s Sold There?

One of the first Dark Web marketplaces to popularize the trade of illicit merchandise via Tor was Silk Road – a legendary drug marketplace established in 2011 that, despite multiple attempts by the FBI to shut it down, continues to exist. The Silk Road had 13,000 drug listings and 1,400 vendors at the time of its closure in 2013. Although it’s one of the most well-known, it is far from the only illicit marketplace selling drugs, weapons, and other illegal services to those who know how to search for them. Staff and community members from the original Silk Road continue to band together to keep the bustling Bitcoin-based narcotics economy alive, regardless of continuous takedown efforts by law enforcement. There is even a new version, Silk Road Reloaded, which was launched on I2P.

Dark Web sites come and go frequently, so estimates for the size of the Dark Web fluctuate and are not definitive. According to a Tor Project study in 2014, there were an estimated 30,000 unique hidden services websites on the Tor network, making up around 3.4 percent of the total network traffic. Additionally, the newly-launched robust Tor search engine called Onion.city (think Google, but for Tor sites) currently indexes about 350,000 pages, and has only been around since February 2015.

Buyers pay for services and merchandise on the Dark Web in crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, the de facto currency of the black market. Last year, marketplaces on the Dark Web frequently processed more Bitcoin transactions than the legitimate Bitcoin payment processor, BitPay.

The Dark Web is the most lawless part of the Internet, and presents a tough problem for law enforcement to solve. Law enforcement and governments are increasingly trying to crack the Dark Web crime rings that operate via Tor. Despite the constant game of whack-a-mole, a series of recent undercover investigations have been successful in taking down some of the most egregious Dark Web sites. For example, a six-month joint investigation between agencies in the United States and Australia led to the arrest of a gun vendor and a dozen buyers. Additionally, recent busts of child pornography crime rings demonstrate some of the successes in combating crime in the Dark Web.

Cyveillance recommends staying security-conscious while perusing the Dark Web and avoiding any interaction while on Tor. We highly suggest using VPN whenever you use Tor, to ensure an additional layer of anonymization. We also recommend adhering to the Tor Project’s own security guidelines, such as disabling browser plugins like Flash, RealPlayer, QuickTime, and others, as they can be manipulated into revealing your IP address. Similarly, avoid installing additional add-ons or plugins into the Tor Browser, as these may bypass Tor or otherwise compromise your anonymity and privacy.

Good to know. If we can just get them to make an ad free internet with open visibility, I'd shift over to that.

I'm mirroring my cover galleries onto the board as part of an experiment. When Google indexes my web pages, I get good search results on the image searches. The problem is that the free hosts crap out and I periodically have to move them to a new host. Either that, or the hosts drop image links when loading the pages... either intentionally to control bandwidth or because they are just crappy.

By mirroring the images here, I want to see if I get more referrals here from the various image search engines. Photobucket is reasonably reliable. Currently, my old board is getting better click through because of all the images posted. I suspect there is a little search engine bias against this board because of the UK domain.

With the lack of activity, I'm in one of those moods to lock the board down again and put everything on hiatus. Starbrand copped an attitude in his last series of posts I'm not interested to pandering to his insecurities about something I never even said. It was too reminiscent of George Warner's mood swings. Lack of reading comprehension is a pet peeve of mine. I have no patience for it. I've been working 12 hour days and I have about 152 hours of PTO coming up the rest of the year. The data backup and resolution is bigger hurdle than I expected it to be. I'm not sure if I want to spend my time off the rest of the year posting here. Vikingspawn has always had interesting posts but how much can the same topics be rehashed? Brother J has a life. Gowaltrip has been rebuilding his life with a new family and it doesn't include comics. The board is mostly visited by lurkers. I just haven't had much to discuss. I haven't been interested in comics enough to read the news sites. The comic shows aren't exciting. I go and say hello to some dealers and don't find things I want. I just don't have much to say or contribute anymore. The Bob Burden art piece was the only thing notewothy that I've bought in awhile. I don't relate to anyone who exclusively likes modern comics. I think traffic has slowed down enough that it's just me and vikingspawn discussing TV shows and movies. He can shoot me an email if he has a question. This post is just my rhetorical ramblings. It doesn't require a reply. Just saying what's on my mind.

I had a friend right out of high school that tries to contact me from time to time when he's in town. He doesn't realize what level I have to function for 8hrs working + about 3hrs commuting each week day for 55 hours per week. This week with overtime, that'll be 73hrs consumed. The longer I work, the worse the traffic in the evening. I don't have the time or inclination to pal around at malls or chat about everyone we've known in the past 20 years or run errands with him. He doesn't understand that. I'm on the computer so much in my off time because sitting in front of a keyboard and reading is a relaxing way to wind down after an extremely fast paced mental and physical day. I'm in a long distance relationship currently, so a lot of my time is spent bouncing back about 10 emails a day. It's not really so much a mood even though I described it as such. It's more tied to a conscious decision about how I do or do not wish to spend my time. With extra days off in my forecast, I'll have no need to wind down. Hence, why should I read my message board everyday just to see two or three sentences a day or in some cases discuss a topic that isn't really interesting to me. I can discuss DEFIANT and even share information I've learned, but I've discussed some of these topics for at least 12 years online and 22 if you go back to when the comics came out. I like providing information, but the topic isn't exactly productive or mentally stimulating for me. I've actually dropped out of some message boards when discussion shift to comic supplies constantly. People will discuss comic supplies endlessly and the same information gets conveyed 30 times per year. I think comics in general are dying a slow death. I've had days at work where I'm reading a NASA website and talking about serious quality issues relating to plasma arcs caused by tin whiskers growing off of a tin plated piece of copper.... because lead was removed from the plating.... for environmental reasons... then I get online and someone is asking if their Mylar bags will protect their comics for 80 years. Then I discover the person is actually talking about polypropylene and they can't even explain why their dollar comics need to be pristine white per the OWL (Overstreet Whiteness Level) 20 years after they are dead. These things baffle me.

When I quit collecting in the 80's, all my comics went straight into storage. The last comic purchase I'd made was still in the bag from when I'd bought them. they were unbagged and just stuck in the end of a box. Other than buying a Christian comic at a bookstore for the heck of it, I really didn't even think about comics from about 1983 to 1990. When I dropped pre-ordering comics in about 2000, I still bought randomly off of the shelf. Eventually, I was fed up with new comics and stuck with buying back issues at a local one day show that gets hosted about 4 times a year. Now I'm not even finding back issues that interest me. So, I've quit cold turkey before. The only difference now is that my comics aren't in storage and I would like to sell off my junk eventually to clear up space. It was nice not buying comics, especially as the prices started increasing to stupid levels. I didn't have to save up to pay for emergency bills falling into my lap. The money was already in my account. Although I'd buy something cool if I saw it, I'm pretty much glad that I'm not seeing anything I want.